Hallmark Perfect Harmony
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries’ newest film, “Perfect Harmony,” premieres on Sunday, October 16, at 9 p.m. Eastern/8 p.m. Central. The movie stars Sherri Saum, Julia Benson, Sheppard Denton, Peter Benson, and James Denton. Read on to learn all about where the movie was filmed and see behind-the-scenes stories from cast and crew.
‘Perfect Harmony’ Was Filmed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Hallmark
This new Hallmark Movies and Mystery feature was shot in Winnipeg and nearby areas, according to the Casting Workbook website. Filming started on July 13 and ended on August 3, 2022.
Every character on the casting sheet has a detailed description, including the role of “CATER WAITER”, which is described as: “The reliable Cater Waiter is always there when you need them. They show up just in time to avoid a nasty BBQ sauce fiasco!” It’s really interesting how a simple two-sentence description can set a tone for a character who might be there only for a few seconds on screen.
This MadLib Casting post also lists the movie as filming from July 13 to August 3.
A Manitoba-filmed Hallmark movie, “Perfect Harmony,” will be premiering this fall on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, produced by Ian Dimerman of @InfernoPictures!
For more details, visit: t.co/F52NJqh55Y
The Manitoba Film and Music Twitter account also confirmed the movie was filmed in Manitoba. They linked to a Variety article where Elizabeth Yost, senior vice president of programming at Hallmark, said: “James Denton has long been an audience favorite and we can’t wait for viewers to see him showcase his musical talent in this role. The story is fun and full of heart, and sharing the screen with his son Sheppard is an added bonus.”
Stefan Scaini, director of “Perfect Harmony,” posted a few pictures on social media while he was in Manitoba filming the movie. He didn’t specify that the photos were from “Perfect Harmony,” but the timing matches.
“It’s a wrap!” he wrote in one post. “And to celebrate, churros & slurpees. Thank you Ian & Lisa, you run a first class production company!”
“Happy Fraturday from the Peg,” he wrote in another post, with the hashtag #ilovemyjob.
“Filming in the stunning Fort Gary Hotel in Winnipeg. I feel so underdressed!” he shared in another post on July 25.
“Smack dab in the middle of the country. Beautiful day in the Prairies in Winnipeg Manitoba,” he shared in another post, along with a series of photos.
“Out exploring on my day off. Enjoying a walk through the Forks here in Winnipeg Manitoba,” he wrote, sharing an inside look on what he does when he’s not working on a movie.
Scaini posted all of those using the hashtag #ilovemyjob, and it’s very clear that he does!
Winnipeg seems to also be popular as of late with filming Hallmark features. Last weekend’s “Pumpkin Everything” with Taylor Cole and Corey Sevier was also filmed there.
Meet the Cast
Hallmark
Hallmark’s synopsis for the movie reads: “When Jack Chandeller (Denton) and Barrett Woodward’s (Saum) mutual friends Naomi (Julia Benson, “Seasoned with Love”) and Simon (Peter Benson, “Big Sky River”) are ready to tie the knot, they ask the pair to be Best Man and Maid of Honor. Barrett is a buttoned-up college professor. Jack on the other hand, is a laid-back, former pop star. They have been like oil and water since they met 10 years prior but, to support Naomi and Simon, they agree to set aside their differences. At the engagement party, Barrett is horrified to learn Jack’s plan for party music was nothing more than a playlist. She guilts him into performing but he insists she join him on stage, much to his son Teddy’s (Sheppard Denton) dismay as Barrett also happens to be his professor. Jack and Barrett bring down the house with their duet and with that, the frost between them begins to thaw. As Jack and Barrett continue to spend time together leading up to the wedding, they surprisingly find themselves getting along. Slowly, they begin to change their perceptions of each other and find they may be more in tune than either of them would have imagined.”
Hallmark
Sherri Saum plays Barrett Woodward. According to her bio, she’s an Emmy-nominated actress who also stars in “The Fosters” and “Good Trouble,” two of Freeform’s most popular shows. Before that, she was a regular on season two of HBO’s “In Treatment,” which also received high praise, and starred in Netflix’s “Locke & Key.” Among the various shows in which Saum has appeared, notable ones include “Rescue e” (FX), the original “Gossip Girl,” “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” (Marvel), “Roswell, New Mexico” (CW), and “Grey’s Anatomy” (CW).
Saum, her husband Kamar de los Reyes, and their two kids live in both New York and Los Angeles. She devotes her free time to supporting the Kusewera organization.
While in Winnipeg, she gave a special shoutout to her hairstylist, writing: “calling all my fellow actors of color as well as all actors of any color- next time you film in Winnipeg i WILL this woman @leanne2228 to be your department head for Hair.”
Jack is played by James Denton. According to his bio, he went to college on a basketball scholarship and didn’t start acting until he was 28. He got the part of George Gibbs in a Nashville production of “Our Town.” The reviews were good, but he thought selling ads would be a more stable career. After living in Tennessee and North Carolina, he moved to Chicago and risked everything to become an actor.
Denton is part of Band from TV, a charity group founded by Greg Grunberg (“Heroes”), Hugh Laurie (“House”), and Bob Guiney (“The Bachelor”) to collect money for a variety of causes. Jesse Spencer (“House”), Scott Grimes (“ER,” “Band of Brothers”), and Adrian Pasdar (“Heroes”) have also been featured members. They’ve raised almost $2 million.
Denton sat down with TV Insider to talk about the movie and working with his son Sheppard. He said this movie was part of his deal with Hallmark.
“We brought this to the network as part of my deal from being on the series ‘Good Witch,'” he explained. “\I had three movies in my deal that I got to produce. One I did about six, seven years ago called ‘For Love & Honor,’ then last Christmas, I did my first Christmas movie, the one with Teri Hatcher, called ‘A Kiss Before Christmas.’ This was the last one in my deal, and we wanted to do something really unique.”
When asked about filming with his son, he sweetly said, “There were a couple scenes we basically took straight from real life. And so this one was a completely different animal than the last one. I thought he was fantastic. And it was fun to have the college kid calling his dad out on burying his feelings and giving his dad a little bit of a speech. I was really proud of him.”
TV Guide quoted Denton as saying: “I love this movie. My co-producer Jonathan Eskenas came to me and said, ‘I know you play guitar, why don’t we do something that’s music-centered?’ That was the germ of the idea. Jon and I trying to come up with something that hadn’t been done.”
Hallmark
Sheppard Denton is Teddy. He’s also James Denton’s son in real-life. He previously starred in “For Love & Honor,” and has appeared on “Home & Family” and “Hollywood Today Live.” He’s a musician and actor.
Hallmark
Husband and wife Peter Benson and Julia Benson also star in the movie, IMDb reported. Peter’s many credits include “Aurora Teagarden Mysteries,” “Big Sky River,” “Lies Between Friends,” “Just One Kiss,” “The Baby-Sitters Club,” “Mystery 101,” “Seasoned with Love,” “Wedding Every Weekend,” “A Million Little Things,” “The Healing Powers of Dude,” “Mech-X4,” “The Bletchley Circle,” and more. He’s also directed a number of movies, including “When I Think of Christmas,” “Big Sky River,” “Color My World with Love,” “The Santa Stakeout,” “Time for Them to Come Home for Christmas,” “Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone,” and more.
Julia’s many credits include “Devil in Ohio,” “Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between,” “Riverdale,” “Dying for Chocolate,” “Cruel Instruction,” “Aurora Teagarden Mysteries,” “Seasoned with Love,” “Chateau Christmas,” “Nancy Drew,” “The Order,” “Marrying Father Christmas,” “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,” “Frequency,” “Cedar Cove,” “Parked,” and “Stargate Universe,” and more.
Also starring in the movie are:
- Andrea del Campo (Meadow)
- Darryl Hinds (Malcolm)
- John B. Lowe (Professor Dodson)
- Samantha Kendrick (Heather)
- Brenda Gorlick (Mean Professor #1)
- Cherrel Holder (Wedding Gown Stylist)
- Dan De Jaeger (Mean Professor #2)
- Victoria Turko (Waitress)
- Lexie Cypurda (DJ)
- Hazel Wallace (Scooper)
- Ashbeel Bhatti (Student)